Comedian Kathy Griffin faced an enormous backlash to her photo shoot, where she was pictured with a bloodied, beheaded Donald Trump. The condemnation was bipartisan. Keith Olbermann and Chelsea Clinton thought it was way over the line, as did former Gov. Mitt Romney. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), who still plans having Griffin attend one of his book tour events in July, said that he spoke with her to say how this act crossed the line. As this incident caught the attention of the Secret Service, Griffin later issued an apology, though not directly to the First Family. The photos were taken down, but she was fired from her co-hosting gig for CNN’s New Year’s Eve program.
The embattled comedian has another defender in Jim Carrey, who defended the mock beheading saying the comedians must always cross the line. The actor, who famously portrayed Ace Ventura, then seems to have crossed the line himself, detailing a dream he had where he was standing next to the president with a golf club. In the dream, Carrey said that he was “considering his options” before waking up (via USA Today) [emphasis mine]:
"It's the job of the comedian to cross the line at all times," he told Entertainment Tonight Wednesday at the Los Angeles premiere of I'm Dying Up Here, the new series he's producing for Showtime. "That line is not real and if you step out into that spotlight and you're doing the crazy things that (Trump) is doing, we're the last line of defense. The comedians are the last voice of truth in this whole thing."
Some may think what Carrey said next crosses that line.
"I had a dream the other night that I was playing golf with Donald Trump," the 55-year-old comedian volunteered. "I was standing beside him with a club in my hand and I was considering my options when I suddenly woke up. It was one of those dreams where you want to go back to sleep so you can finish it, you know? But I've taken up golf anyway."
Yeah, that’s a not so subtle way of saying you were considering assassinating the president in a dream, which is horrific. Again, you have to ask what the media reaction would have been like if a conservative said such dreadful things about Barack Obama. It would have spurred similar condemnations from across the political spectrum and rightfully so, but in keeping with the liberal media—there would have been endless coverage about whether conservatives are racist. They certainly would have tried to paint the entire movement in this light, which is disingenuous in the extreme. Yet, for now, I’ll take the broad disgust people have shown over this stunt and a major news network removed Griffin from her hosting duties. Still, Jim Carrey—what the hell, dude?